Media players, cellular telephones and numerous other electrical or electronic personal devices or appliances are now ubiquitous. Such devices often require ways of inputting information or commands by a user, with resulting features including touch screens, dials, knobs and push buttons. Such buttons can be part of a keyboard, a 10-key pad, or can be used in isolation, as desired by a designer. One drawback to using push buttons as a means for permitting input can be a cluttered or complex appearance for the overall device where many such buttons are used.
Cantilevered push buttons, also known as seesaw buttons, are one way of providing the functional effect of two buttons while providing a more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing overall appearance. In such an arrangement, a single elongated outer member effectively serves as two different input buttons. When one end is pushed, a first inner electrical contact is actuated, and when the other end is pushed, a second and separate inner electrical contact is made. It is usually not possible to actuate both buttons at the same time with many true cantilevered push buttons.
Such cantilevered or seesaw push buttons typically pivot about a central fulcrum, such that when one end is pushed in by a user to actuate its respective button contact, the other end actually rises upward or away from the rest of the device. Although the actual distances traveled by such cantilevered buttons when actuated can be quite small, it can still be perceived as somewhat less aesthetically appealing to have opposing ends of such cantilevered buttons move away from the device when a particular end is pushed.
In order to compensate for this issue with button ends or other portions moving away from their respective devices, some cantilevered buttons are formed from rubber, soft plastic, or other pliable materials, such that some or all of the cantilevered push button flexes to permit the non-actuated end to be held in place by the device housing or another mechanical stop while the actuated end is pushed inward. Problems with this approach can arise, however, when a metal or other less flexible material is used to construct the actual cantilever portion of the button itself.
While many designs for cantilevered or seesaw push buttons have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to provide other cantilever button designs or techniques that can achieve the same or similar objectives in a reliable fashion while allowing for a greater variety of possible materials that may also be more aesthetically pleasing.